Stem cell is an initial source of human and various tissues and cells thereof, of which the most prominent biological characteristic is not only possessing a probability of self-renewal and proliferation, but also possessing a probability of pluripotency. The stem cells are classified into somatic stem cells and embryonic stem (ES) cells according to different sources. The somatic stem cells include neural stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, and hemopoietic stem cells, etc. Currently, besides many studies on the hemopoietic stem cells and the mesenchymal stem cells, researches on the neural stem cells are also relative deep.
In 1992, Reynolds and Weiss et al. firstly isolated neural stem cells from a corpus striatum of an adult mouse, which not only possess probabilities of self-renewal, division and proliferation, but also may differentiate to most types of cells of nervous system, which may respond to damage and disease. In 1998, Okano from Japan and Goldman from Cornell university co-demonstrated that a presence of the neural stem cells in tissues of human adult brain. Currently, it has been demonstrated the presence of multipotent stem cells in nervous system through gradually practice, then has been successfully isolated therefrom, which brings new hopes for repair of nervous system damage and cell replacement therapy of neurodegenerative disorders. As a characteristic of a neuron being non-regenerative and non-self-repairing has been an insurmountable obstacle in medical science, and due to vulnerability of organization structure of central nervous system and importance thereof on intellectual activity, further central nervous system disorder and sequela thereof are one of the most chronic diseases affecting human health and quality of life, thereof study on neural stem cells has become a most hot topic and focused part in a field of stem cells research, which has a bright prospect in clinical application.
However, currently the research related to neural stem cells still needs to be improved.